Baily/Skochenski & Jetta/Steinman Win in Hinckley

The second SRS event sponsored by Kettle River Retriever Group (who sponsored the first club event in 2009) took place at the KRRG grounds near Hinckley, Minnesota, on August 13 - 15. This year the event had two divisions - Owner/Handler and Open. Forty-two dogs ran with 17 in the Owner/Handler division and 25 in the Open. The Open reached the magic number of 21 and qualified to send two dogs to the SRS Crown Championship. The weekend brought every kind of weather available in a Minnesota summer - very hot and humid, torrential rain, and beautiful blue skies with gentle breezes and cooler temperatures. Despite the impending thunderstorm, the event proceeded with only minor delays.

In the Open, Tim Springer and Flap took the lead early and held on to that lead to the final series. They went into the fourth series with a 27-point lead over the next highest dog and handler, Jack and Lyle Steinman. All of us who work with, train and love dogs know that every once in a while the dog decides that he doesn't have to work with you and usually makes that decision at the worst possible time. Flap made that decision in the 4th series and Tim and Flap dropped to sixth place. Lyle Steinman took first place with Jetta and with Coot second place. Lyle said that he put Jetta on the truck at the last minute because he had an extra hole and had not originally intended to bring her. Way to go, Jetta!

In the Owner/Handler, Wayne Skochenski and Baily battled it out with Alex Ryan and Dixon through to the final series. The two went into the final series separated by only 8 points, with Wayne and Bailey in the lead. After Alex and Dixon ran and moved to 207 points at the end of the fourth series, Wayne and Bailey played it as safe as they could because all they had to do was beat the 207 points. Wayne and Bailey finished at 184 points and secured the win by 23 points.

SRS Trial Marshal Brett Gratham described the individual test setups:

First series
Double with short retired, long bird was a simulated flyer station. Watch birds down, turn 90 degrees left and run a 220 yard blind then pick up the marks.

Second series
Middle bird thrown left to right at 70 yards swing left bird 2 thrown on a hi at 40 yards. Swing 180 degrees bird three comes out on hill at 30 yards. Pick up marks then run a 150 yd blind through down cover and berms. The blind was hard to finish.

Third series
The third was a hunting scenario with a remote sit, duck calling, and a bubba hunter. The first mark was tossed onto an island about 50 yards out. The second bird was tossed on the back levee of the pond at 80 yards just to the right of the first mark. The third mark was thrown into a corner where a point joined the levee an out 55 yards and the go bird was a breaking bird just off to the dogs left that splashed at 10 yards.

Fourth series
The final set up was big white coat triple with the long bird retired and thrown at the end of a channel just off the backside of the exposed middle gun. The distance on the long retired was only 288 yards which included 3 re-entries and ended with a 50 yd channel swim push up the hill in knee high grass to the bird. The middle bird was thrown on a point that would be crossed later in the blind. The go bird was thrown at 220 yards that had a slight angle entry and a tight shoreline swim. After the marks you ran a blind up the middle that crossed the tip of a right hand point and the tip of a left hand point (where middle bird was thrown). The send for the blind was a side hill slight uphill position with the line tight to a hay bale creating a situation where the initial line was tough to get. The final third of this blind was no slouch as the lay of the land and thick taller grass encouraged the dogs to fade right toward the hay bale the blind planter was sitting behind. Great series.

The KRRG was excited about the event, and hope to have another event the same weekend next August. The goal is to repeat achieving at least two qualifiers in the Open and reach that same number for the Owner/Handler. There were a significant number of spectators by the final round, and hopefully this will generate further interest in our event.